Rise of the Planet of the Apes dominated the box office again last weekend. How will it do this weekend? Opening last weekend in wide release was The Help how will film critic reviews measure up against consumer reviews. Then we will let you know if it’s worth the money.
Note: We only review films in wide release.
The Help-PG-13 What’s the Buzz? Many top film critics thought this was a very entertaining film with fine performances worth seeing. According to film critic Mary F. Pols of Time Magazine states; “It’s easy to pick sides, easy to feel good about every educational mud pie in Miss Hilly’s face. But there is nothing easy about Davis’ uncompromising performance. She makes The Help impossible to dismiss. [1] What do consumers have to say? The majority of reviews on rottentomatoes.com said it was a great drama and break from all the CGI films this summer. [2] So is it worth the money? BIG YES!
- Box office rank: #2
- Film Critics Say: Metacritic- 62 Positive, rottentomatoes: 74%
- Consumers Say: Metacritic- 7.0 Positive, rottentomatoes: 93%
Final Destination 5-R – What’s the Buzz? Top film critics had mixed reviews on this film. According to Metacritic the franchise got reborn. What were some of the comments? Elizabeth Weitzman of The New York Daily News stated “Steven Quale has brought this anemic franchise back to life, with an unexpected infusion of humor and energy. ” [3] Consumers on Metacritic.com said it was a mixed bag with great visual effects . So is it worth the money? Yes!
- Box office rank: #3
- Film Critics Say: Metacritic- 51 Mixed, rottentomatoes: 51% (rotten)
- Consumers Say: Metacritic- 7.0 Positive, rottentomatoes: 70%
30 Minutes or Less-R – What’s the Buzz? Not bad but not too good either? Peter Debruge of Variety stated “As a result, pic looks cheap and feels clipped — a choice that may not be entirely accidental, given the unscenic Michigan eyesores against which the film is set.” [4] Consumers on rottentomatoes liked the film had a few low points but overall it was entertaining. So is it worth the money? Yes!
- Box office rank: #5
- Film Critics Say: Metacritic- 48 Mixed, rottentomatoes: 44% (rotten)
- Consumers Say: Metacritic- 5.0 Mixed, rottentomatoes: 68%
What’s opening in theaters this weekend? Click on title to view trailer
- Conan the Barbarian: (latest review results- 28% rottentomatoes)
- Fright Night: (latest review results- 75% rottentomatoes)
- One Day: (latest review results- 28% rottentomatoes)
[3] http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/final_destination_5/
[4] http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/30_minutes_or_less/reviews/?type=user
comicreleaf
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Comic Relief
parisienne
littlebells
Lurker
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Open Book
LIH
linkedinhollywood.com 
I saw The Help Tuesday night at the 10:00 PM showing. It was about 1/4 full. Fantastic movie and despite having to condense a lot of the book, Tate Taylor grabbed the most important parts. By the end of the film you could hear sniffling and as the credits started, everyone applauded.
It was wonderful to see Emma Stone play such a character and I looooove Allison Janney. She played her role as an upper class Southern woman caught between loving her Black maid and trying to maintain her “image” very well. Viola Davis was spectacular but it was Octavia Spencer (Minnie) that stole the show! And lastly it was so nice to see Bryce Dallas Howard play such a mean, horrible, rotten, no -good person. Totally erased the fact she was in a Twilight film.
I would highly recommend it and both hubs and I give it two thumbs up, each! 🙂
LB it totally agree with your review of The Help. I so loved the book and thought the movie followed the book well. ITA that Octavia Spencer stole the show and Emma Stone, so nice to see her in a noncomedic role. I throughly enjoyed it.
Now for my closet movie…Fright Night. I have always thought of the original as kind of a cult classic and enjoyed the original. I thought this was kind of campy, but Colin Farrel does a great job as “Jerry”. Now with that being said, I am a Colin Farrel fan (not all of his movies, but a fan) and I think that he had the alpha male confidence to pull off the role. It is hard to make comedy in general, but horror-comedy is almost impossible and this seems to find the right balance.
I did enjoy it, but also loved the campy and cheesiness of the original.
Hope all of you are well.
Hi Francesa!!!! So glad to hear from you. We are getting a book club going and I hope you can participate! 🙂
Would love to participate in a book club.
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Paris is helping with it. I’ve linked up LIH to it as well.
Hi LB and Francesa-
I still have not seen The Help yet but will have to check it out now.
As I said I would, I saw the “The Rise of the Planet of the Apes” last week.
Andy Serkis’ performance as Caesar will likely last as one of the greatest early moments in the collaboration between actors and CGI technical departments we’ve seen in modern film making. Of all of Hollywood film’s non-human characters you’ll be surprised at how much you identify with Caesar’s many plights during the movie. When we look back at the original series, it’s strange that the provocation of these audience emotions was not a reoccurring incident in that experience.
Still as impressive as the CGI digital animation and trailer communicated premise was, I found the over-all movie less engaging than I expected. I even found it hard to sit through the dramatic climax of the movie. For this reviewer, logical impossibilities made watching the end of the movie a chore.
For the fans of this rebooted franchise, (regardless of what I thought), the movie did remarkable box office so the desired sequel is very likely thanks to word of mouth and critical appreciation of the CGI effort. In the long run, much like the early Transformer movies this film is a technical hit, which may keep loyal series fans satisfied for the time being. Long before the Star Wars trilogies, in the seventies, this was the premiere Hollywood science fiction franchise.
One can only hope, multiple scientific confusions pertaining to the behaviors of different ape species will be worked out to everyone’s satisfaction. Even retooled the original science fiction premise of the movie: that apes are similar enough to us as a species that competition between us should still be a compelling one to witness on screen, is still valuable.